Dublin could be set for huge boost if Pat Gilroy gets his way

Fighting talk from the new boss

Darragh Culhane

It was 2013.

That is when Dublin had their purple patch, they won the Leinster Championship that year.

It was sensational really, the footballers were heavily favoured to reclaim the Sam Maguire (which they did) and the murmurs of an unprecedented double were being said quietly but sure why not?

Dublin had beaten Kilkenny in a replay in the Leinster Championship, a victory that would have seriously shifted the mindset of anyone that doubted they were good enough. They then thumped Galway in the final.

This wasn’t meant to happen, this was a team that was too young and one of their best players was only 21-years-old.

Danny Sutcliffe picked up an All-Star Award later that year as Dublin lost out to Cork in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland and it was never quite the same since.

‘Give them a few years’ is what has been said around the capital as the age of the team is one where emphasis is placed on youth but many of the experienced Dublin players have disappeared over the years and Sutcliffe is one of them.

The St.Jude’s man said he was focusing on his masters and then next thing he was travelling abroad, even lining out for New York against Sligo in the 2017 Connacht Championship.

And with Pat Gilroy now in charge there is hope that he can bring back a few familiar names with Sutcliffe included.

Gilroy was at the launch of the AIG Fenway Classic where his Dublin side will travel with Galway, Clare, and Tipperary to play a Super 11’s style tournament in Fenway Park and the St.Vincent’s man didn’t mince his words, he wants the best players available playing for his county:

“Yeah, it has to be,” Gilroy said when asked if the priority is getting the best squad together

“It has to be fellas who want to play and that are keen to play. You want to have the best ones available who really want to be there. That’s the bottom line.

“I suppose the club championship is on a the moment. Players are all with their club, generally speaking. I’ve got to a good few of them over the last few weeks. Vincent’s were involved so I was going anyway. I got to see a good few matches. There’s a lot of good hurlers out there. Some of them for whatever reason haven’t been playing over the last few years. If they want to play and they’re good enough, everyone will have a chance.”

There was no bullsh*t from Gilroy, he called it like it is, players have chosen not to play for the county over the last few years and he wants to get them back.

And then there is Danny Sutcliffe, the lost talent of Dublin hurling:

“Danny is an outstanding hurler, there’s no doubt about it. But, again, I don’t know at this stage what his own plans are. The last time I actually met him was in New York. He was working in New York and I happened to bump into him there.

“I think he’s still abroad but I think he’s intending to come back home. If he’s back home and he’s hurling with his club and he wants to play and if he plays like anything he did before then he’d be a fella you’d definitely want to have.”

Calm and measured in everything that he said, Gilroy hit all the right notes in his interview. Any doubts that he isn’t suitable for this job should be thrown out the window, he just seemed like a man that had his act together.

James McCarthy last week said that Gilroy is the type of man that you just want to play for, he makes you believe in the cause and everybody knows their role so it will be no surprise to see a reversal of the mass exodus in Dublin hurling over the coming months.

The only snag is that Gilroy has admitted that he hasn’t made any contact with players that he wants to see in the squad:

“No, I haven’t,” Gilroy said when asked had he been in contact with any players he’d like to see return.

“As far as things stand, once the year is finished, the squad is finished. I think to be fair to everyone in Dublin, it’s a blank sheet of paper for us. We’ll be giving everyone a chance. We have to outline some plans to the county board by the weekend. Once they have them and they’re happy with what we’re suggesting we’ll do it over the next few months, we’ll start getting in touch with people about the things that we want to do before we get fully up and running in January.”

On November 19, Dublin will take on Galway and Tipperary will face Clare in Fenway Park with the winning sides from both proceeding to a final for a chance to win the inaugural Players Champions Cup. This is the second time in three years that hurling, in the Super 11s format, will be played at the venue. Tickets for the AIG Fenway Hurling Classic and Irish Festival can be purchased at www.redsox.com/hurling.